


all you have to do is wait a second, your hands on mine

by coopbastian



Category: Glee
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Love Confessions, M/M, Mentions of One-Sided Huntbastian, Prompt Fill, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-27 09:49:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13245681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coopbastian/pseuds/coopbastian
Summary: @officialtitties on tumblr prompted: ““ngl i thought you were the weak one of this friend group but your whole life just went to complete shit around you and somehow you’re still acting the same so if you want to be weak you can be around me” au"





	all you have to do is wait a second, your hands on mine

**Author's Note:**

> 2018 is the year we revive coopbastian. 
> 
> previously prompted on tumblr by @officialtitties on @ciscosbarry / title taken from "Stay" by Alessia Cara

“Drinks on me tonight, boys!” Sebastian announces, dropping a stack of hundreds onto the middle of the table. His words are slurring as he leans back into his chair, his hair is a bit of a mess, his tie hanging loosely.   
  
“How long have you been here, Bas?” Cooper asks, concerned for his friend as he reaches for the cash, putting it safely away in his coat pocket. He isn’t the only one worried--Blaine, Kurt, Hunter, and Sam are all staring at the lawyer and giving each other looks.   
  
Sebastian shrugs his shoulders. “I got fired a couple hours ago, I think,” he tells them, and the men stare at him with shocked expressions on their faces. “I’ve been bar hopping, of course--people aren’t very welcoming to those who’re already having a good time, apparently.”  
  
“Seb, I’m so sorry to hear that,” Blaine says, reaching out to rest a hand on his best friend’s shoulder.  
  
But Sebastian waves him off, shaking his head. “No need to get fussy over me,” he says with a grin. “It was bound to happen. Besides, this just means that I don’t have to work for my old man anymore, thus having him cut me out of his life and fortune. It’s great.”  
  
“Oh, Bas…” Kurt sighs, before he makes an attempt to take the martini out of the other’s hand. “You need to drink some water and have some food. This isn’t healthy.”   
  
“Chill, Hummel,” Sebastian says, signaling down one of the servers while Hunter glares at him. “This isn’t any different from my usual drinking habits on the weekends. It’s just...what is it, Monday? Great. I worked half a day and now I have the rest of the week to myself.”    
  
Cooper keeps his eyes on him, arms folded across his chest as he tries to find the words to comfort the younger man. What can he even say to that? Sebastian’s life is suddenly falling apart and he can’t open his damn mouth. He’s known Sebastian for as long as his brother has, Blaine always bringing him home after school to offer him dinner and a sleepover whenever Sebastian’s parents are fighting.   
  
The three of them sort of stuck together, making sure that Sebastian always has a place to escape to--because when it all comes down to it, Sebastian Smythe isn’t exactly the snobby player he makes himself out to be.   
  
So Cooper finally decides to speak up before he has to break up a fight that’s certain to happen within the group.   
  
“Why don’t you guys go out for dinner while I take Sebastian home?”   
  
All eyes move to him, and they fall silent for a moment till Hunter lets out a frustrated sigh. “Just make sure the idiot gets some food in him, yeah?” he says as they collectively stand up to leave, and Cooper nods, even though there is a small tug at his heart, knowing that the young man has had it bad for Sebastian for years now.   
  
“You guys suck!” Sebastian exclaims, tossing a rolled up napkin at his friends, and it gets Blaine’s head. “I’m fine! You’re all being so sensitive right now, god…” He looks over at Cooper, frowning. “Thanks a lot, Coop.”   
  
Cooper doesn’t react to the comment, and instead, he closes their tab and drops a generous tip onto the table before he gets up to go around to grab Sebastian by the arm.   
  
Sebastian lets out a groan in protest, and he tries to pull away from the older man, but with his drunken state, he’s obviously no match for Cooper. “Why’re you always ruining my fun, Cooper?” he whines, letting the other hold him up while his legs are like jelly while they leave the bar and get into Cooper’s car.   
  
This isn’t the first time Cooper takes his brother’s best friend home because he’s drunk out of his mind, but it is the first time that Cooper is concerned about Sebastian’s thought process and the fact that his life seems to be crumbling around him and he’s still acting the same, as if nothing is wrong. Knowing Sebastian for more than 10 years, protecting him and looking after him and being there for him--it has Cooper thinking that he’s more than a friend to him at this point, and he needs to do something to shake Sebastian out of whatever trance he’s under at the moment.   
  
***  
  
They make it to Sebastian’s loft, Sebastian drunkenly singing along to the car radio (and doesn’t stop singing) when Cooper half-carries him up the stairs and through the door, letting him flop onto the couch.   
  
Having been in the younger man’s place so many times, Cooper knows where to find the bottle of aspirin and a glass to fill with water, placing it on the coffee table in front of Sebastian.   
  
He then goes into the closet, grabbing a blanket to drape over his friend before he’s back in the kitchen to prepare a couple of slices of toast.   
  
“Really? You couldn’t get me to my bed?” Sebastian complains, and Cooper rolls his eyes. “Is it because you’ll be tempted by my charming looks and fantastic hair if I’m in bed, having room for the both of us?”   
  
Cooper stops his movements for a moment, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s...it’s not like that, Bas,” he says, but he and Sebastian both know that that isn’t the truth. The two have shared some...intimate nights whenever Sebastian is like this, drunk and needy.   
  
It’s different this time, though, Cooper convinces himself. Sebastian is _way_ too vulnerable, more so than usual--he needs to _talk_ , not ignore the problem by having a rough, sweaty one-night stand.   
  
“Whatever you say, babe,” Sebastian says, shrugging before he decides to take the aspirin and Cooper goes back to making the toast.   
  
They stay silent, even when Cooper hands him the plate of plain food and takes a seat in one of the lounge chairs.   
  
Sebastian falls asleep soon after eating, and it doesn’t take long for Cooper to become too antsy that he starts cleaning up, noticing the various empty bottles of alcohol and dirty clothes laying around. Sebastian is worse off than he originally thought, and it honestly scares him, making his heart drop to the pit of his stomach.   
  
He distracts himself before his thoughts start going down a spiral.   
  
***  
  
“What the hell…”   
  
Cooper hears the familiar (and sober) voice from the kitchen hours later, just as he places the last of the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. He waves from behind the counter, and Sebastian gives him a weird look.   
  
“Are you cleaning my kitchen?” Sebastian asks, running a hand through his messy hair. Cooper can’t help but wonder when is the last time the younger man has taken a shower.   
  
“Well--what else was I going to do?” Cooper tells him, walking over to him to grab his glass of water to refill it. “You want more aspirin?”   
  
Sebastian groans. Cooper takes it as a “yes” and he grabs a couple of the pills, handing it over to him before sitting right besides him.   
  
“Huh, I’m surprised we’re not naked in bed,” Sebastian says, not even glancing over at Cooper as he takes a sip of the water.   
  
Leaning back on the couch, Cooper crosses his arms over his chest, trying his best to keep a neutral expression, which is fairly easy for him, being an actor and all. “I wasn’t going to do anything to you while you’re hurting, Bas.” His voice is soft, nearly a whisper, and it has Sebastian scoffing at him.   
  
“Are you serious?” Sebastian scoots away from the older man, staring at him. “Out of all the times we got hot and heavy, _now_ you want to be morally right and take the high road or some shit?”   
  
“You got fired, Bastian--by your own _father_.”   
  
“It’s nothing. We got in a fight and this is way of punishing me, or whatever. He’ll be calling me tomorrow to ask where the hell I am with his coffee.”   
  
“This wasn’t just _some_ fight, though, was it? He cut you off, he’s leaving you out to get evicted and starve!”   
  
“Maybe I was being a little dramatic when I mentioned that. He’ll beg to have his best defense attorney back within the week. His business is nothing without me. No big deal.”   
  
“Bas, listen to me. This sounds serious, more so than usual. You’re in trouble.”   
  
“I told you it’s not a big deal!” Sebastian shouts, getting up from the couch. “I’m fucking _fine_ , Coop! I told him to fuck off when he tried to push this woman onto me, saying that I can get past my ‘phase’ if I go on one date with her, we fought, he hit me--and he fired me, but y’know what? He’s nothing if he doesn’t have his precious heir, he--”   
  
“Where?” Cooper asks, cutting in as he immediately stands up as well. His voice is firm, his eyes scanning up and down the younger man. “Where did he hit you?”   
  
“Calm the fuck down,” Sebastian insists, but he doesn’t sound very convincing. “I moved out of the way just in time, and out of reflex, I socked him in the damn jaw.”   
  
Cooper stares at him, letting out a sigh of relief that his friend is okay. “Shit…” he mumbles, one hand on his hip as his other hand strokes through his hair. “Bastian, that’s…” He swallows, not knowing what to say. Mr. Smythe is known to have a violent outburst or two, but letting it out on their own son…? “I’m sorry.”   
  
“Don’t be,” Sebastian says quietly, avoiding Cooper’s gaze. “Like I said, it was bound to happen--all of this. That was just...the last straw with me. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was fine and dandy having my sexuality not being talked about, but that…” He’s clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly, and Cooper notices for the first time the bruised knuckles on his right hand. “Despite the arguments and fights, he still treated me like his favorite son,” he continues. “This time, though...he...he told me that I was a mistake, that I was never loved by anyone--him or my mother. I was never supposed to be born.”   
  
“Bastian…” Cooper’s heart simply _breaks_ for Sebastian. He’s never seen him like this, so...expressionless as his life is going to absolute shit. “You know that’s not true,” he starts to say, getting closer to the other, grabbing him by the shoulders. “You _are_ loved. Blaine loves you--from the very moment he saw this lonely little boy on the swings that day in preschool, Hunter loves you, Sam loves you...hell, even Kurt loves you.”   
  
Sebastian’s face doesn’t change, and he looks up at the older man. “What about you?” he asks slowly, as if unsure, or terrified of asking. “Do you love me?”   
  
“Yes.” Cooper doesn’t hesitate, not even for a second. It’s like he says it on instinct, every muscle in his body saying it. “I love you. More than anything, Bas.”   
  
At this, tears begin to form at the corner of Sebastian’s eyes, his body shaking. There’s a sharp intake of breath, as if he’s running out of air. So Cooper pulls him in for a tight embrace, and at that very moment, Sebastian bursts into a heartbreaking sob, tears streaming heavily down his cheeks, unable to return the hug as his body feels weak.   
  
Cooper rests his chin on the top of his head, never letting his hold loosen, his hand making slow and gentle circles on Sebastian’s back as he continues to sob into Cooper’s shirt, covering it with tears and snot. Cooper doesn’t care, though, he’s just mostly relieved that Sebastian is actually reacting.   
  
He doesn’t know how long they stay like this, but he doesn’t dare to move till Sebastian’s cries are dying down and he pulls back just enough to look at his best friend’s face, tucking strands of his hair behind his ears. The touch actually makes Sebastian smile a bit, and he glances down.   
  
“What’re you looking at?” Sebastian asks, his voice hoarse from crying, and Cooper chuckles softly.   
  
“You’re beautiful,” Cooper tells him.   
  
Sebastian’s vision becomes a little blurry as tears start to overflow again. “Oh, shut up,” he says, shaking his head. “I’m disgusting, tears and snot and all.”   
  
With his thumb and index finger, Cooper grabs Sebastian’s chin to make him look back at him. “You’re always beautiful,” he says. “Especially with tears and snot and all.”   
  
Sebastian’s cheeks turn into a rosy pink, and he lets out a soft laugh. He wraps his arms around the older man, tucking his face into the crook of Cooper’s neck and shoulder, hugging him tightly. “What am I going to do, Coop?” he asks, his voice a little shaky, scared.   
  
“We’ll figure it out,” Cooper answers, placing a soft kiss to Sebastian’s temple. “All of us. We’re your family. _I’m_ your family.”   
  
Sebastian breathes in sharply, and Cooper feels more tears staining his shirt as they hold onto each other, neither of them intending to ever let go.  



End file.
